The 20-year-old woman came with more than two dozen protesters this morning to the the corporate offices of The Children's Place, a children's apparel retailer, which was one of about 30 businesses that outsourced manufacturing to the doomed factory. The group also protested outside a nearby Sam's Club -- a subsidiary of Walmart that also had clothing made at Rana Plaza.

"We died because we were working for them," Khanam said through an interpreter.

Liana Foxvog, an organizer for the protest and director of organizing for International Labor Rights Forum, said the businesses that outsourced production to the Rana Plaza factory have a moral obligation to help those affected by the tragedy.

"We feel it is important to take it directly to the corporate headquarters ... to let them know that we are not going to stop this campaign until the company pays," Foxvog said.

Petite and standing about 5-feet tall, Khanam walked calmly from the chanting of protesters on the corner of Harmon Meadow Boulevard and Plaza Drive to The Children's Place's multi-story office building to deliver a letter calling for $8 million in compensation be paid to the families of those that worked in the factory.

She and a handful of protesters were stopped at the front door and not permitted to enter.

As she stood at the office's door, Khanam calmly described in her native Bengali language the horror of being inside the Rana Plaza building when it collapsed on April 24, 2013.

Garment workers there knew the building was dangerous, Khanam said, but management forced them to continue working. As they were working that day, the power went out, and when generators were switched on, the building collapsed.

Khanam was trapped under heavy machinery for more than 12 hours before she was rescued. Many others were not as fortunate, she said.

"Right in front of me, one of my male coworkers was struck by a beam and killed," Khanam said through an interpreter.

Khanam suffered head trauma and other injuries, which have left her unable to work or help support her family of four other siblings.

"I can't work now so I have no money and (my sibling's) schooling has come to a halt," Khanam said through an interpreter. "They have an obligation and responsibility. They were the ones commissioning us to make clothes."

Another organizer, Rev. Fletcher Harper, said he did not know what impact the day's protest would have.

"It is absolutely vital that people start to stand up and demonstrate and show publicly that this kind of mistreatment of workers is absolutely unacceptable," said Harper, the executive director of GreenFaith, an interfaith, environmental organization.

Rick Engler, executive director of the New Jersey Work Environmental Council, which also helped organize the protest, said it took great fortitude for Khanam to travel across the globe to fight for her cause.

"It took great courage for them to attempt to meet with the corporate CEOs and they should be commended for it," Engler said.

Khanam began working in the garment factories when she was 14 years old. Working from 8 a.m. to midnight, Khanam said she was forced to produce 100-150 pieces of clothing every hour. She sometimes worked through the night and clocked more than 120 hours a week, working everyday.

The protest was coordinated by a coalition of organizations including Hudson County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, International Labor Rights Forum, New Jersey Work Environment Council, United Students Against Sweatshops and Walmart Free NYC.

After Khanam attempted to enter the offices of The Children's Place, she and the group walked down the street to protest outside of Sam's Club. Khanam was also calling on Walmart, the owner of Sam's Club, to pay $16 million in damages to the families.

Khanam said she and other victims have received about $600 in compensation, but it is not nearly enough to cover medical bills of the 2,500 people injured and the enormous loss of life.

Both The Children's Place and Walmart have donated money to trust funds set up for the workers, according to Foxvog. The donations, however, amount to about $750 per worker.

Khanam flew to the United States on March 29. She will return to Bangladesh on April 18 and join protests there to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the garment factory collapse.

"We are doing a lot of work in Bangladesh to try and hold Children's Place accountable," Khanam said through an interpreter. "What we are asking is that people from this side of the supply chain also try and do so."